Bookworm and the Beast
by flippedoveryou
Summary: Summary: Due to Draco's vanity and way of viewing life, he gets turned into a hideous beast. Guess who's his beauty? Cough*Hermione*Cough. The story's plot is loosely based off Beauty and the Beast, hence the title. Has a Draco and Hermione pairing.
1. The Ugly Inside

**Bookworm and the Beast**

**Summary: Due to Draco's vanity and way of viewing life, he gets turned into a hideous beast. Guess who's his beauty? Cough*Hermione*Cough. The story's plot is loosely based off Beauty and the Beast, hence the title. Has a Draco and Hermione pairing.**

**Author's Note: First time writer, please read, review and give any constructive criticism you have! Thank you and enjoy!**

"Look at that atrocious girl, Draco," Pansy snickered to Draco, as she clung onto his arm.

"Why would I want to look at such a thing?" Draco asked her rhetorically, his gaze looking at the direction Pansy had pointed out.

It was Luna Lovegood. Luna wasn't the prettiest of girls, and the strands of leaves braided into her long blonde hair didn't do any good. Her matching horseradish earring and necklace set and long billowy skirt did nothing to help the cause either.

"Hey Loony," called Pansy haughtily. Luna looked over to the group of Slytherins. "Who dressed _you_?"

They awaited her response.

"I did, of course." She replied calmly, evenly. "Why does it matter how I dress or look?"

"It hurts to look at you." Draco snickered. "And everyone cares about how they dress or look." He gave her a contemptuous look then added, "Except you. Clearly."

Luna appeared unaffected and serene. "Says you, Draco Malfoy," she said dreamily. "But where would you be without your good looks? Will people really like you and adore you like they do for what you have inside?" She paused. "The ugly inside?"

"Well good thing that's never going to happen to me." He scoffed, unaffected as she was. With that, Draco motioned for them to leave and he stalked off.

"Draco," Pansy purred, as she was straddling his lap in the empty Slytherin common room. "You do know what color dress I'm wearing right?"

"Um, no," he said lazily, not really caring.

"It's purple, Drakie-Poo, you have to get a matching tie okay?" She whined.

"Yeah, sure okay, I will," he replied.

Satisfied, she began to kiss him again.

"I'm so glad were going together," she added. She was of course, referring to the Halloween dance at Hogwarts the upcoming week.

_The ugly inside…the ugly inside…the ugly inside…_

As much as Draco didn't want to admit it, Loony Lovegood's words were haunting him.

"Draco…" Pansy whined again. "Why aren't you kissing me? What are you thinking about?"

"Ugh, get off," he said roughly, shrugging her off. "I'm not in the mood."

"What…?" Pansy asked her eyes full of hurt. "I thought you said…"

"Well you thought wrong. Go find yourself some 5th year to play with. You mean nothing to me."

With that Pansy burst into tears and rushed out of the room.

Draco rolled his eyes and wondered how he even settled for something as pug-faced as Pansy. He was obviously too good for her, a list of girls practically falling at his feet and pining for him. He needed to clear his head. He got up abruptly and went to his room, grabbing his broom stick and heading out.

His thoughts returned to what Luna said. What the hell does she think she's talking about? What ugly? Is she really not aware of this ridiculously superficial society they all live in?

Rushing through an empty corridor, Draco walked at a fast pace, his mind still lost in his thoughts. He didn't even notice the curly haired brunette, whose nose was buried in a book, walking towards him.

With a loud oomph, the two collided, belongings and a broom scattered everywhere. Draco, who despite his bad mood, promptly picked up the girls belongings and apologized.

Getting up to hand the books to the girl, he realized that the girl he ran into was in fact Hermione Granger.

"Granger." He scowled at her, thrusting her books to her quite forcefully.

"Malfoy." She returned at him. "Maybe you could watch where you're going next time"

"Don't tell me what to do you filthy mudblood. Maybe if you hadn't buried your nose in whatever the fuck you were reading, you'd be able to clear the mud out of your eyes."

"Ho hum," Hermione said amused, brushing herself off. "Tell me you're not playing the mudblood episode again".

"Oh, it was a love letter from Potty right? Saying that he's finally decided to leave the love of his life, that she-Weasley, for you, a pathetic excuse for a female".

Hermione blinked, attempting to rid of the tears forming in her eyes. Was it that obvious to the whole world that she liked Harry? So obvious that her worst enemy had noticed?

"Aw, did I touch a nerve?" he asked mockingly.

"Fuck off Malfoy," she said through angry tears, briskly walking away from him.

Malfoy walked away calmly, sighing as he arrived outside.

_Finally. _He was out in the cool night air. The sky war clear, but the moon and stars had lit up the sky. Mounting his broom, he kicked off with full force and sailed into the night sky. After half an hour or so, his mind became sleepy and he landed near the lake at Hogwarts, planning to get a drink.

As he kneeled beneath the water, he started at his reflection. Despite his windblown hair he was still irresistible. He smiled a cocky smile at himself. Cupping his hands to drink some water he heard a voice cry to him…

"_Dracoooo. Help me…"_

_What the fuck? _Draco's head quickly snapped around, alerted, his wand out in front of him. He saw a horrid, old woman, with shriveled, saggy skin and beady, green eyes.

"_Help me Draco, fetch me some water. "_

"How do you know my name?" he demanded, taking a step closer. "Who are you?"

"_I've been watching you Draco," she told him, the corners of her mouth turning into a creepy smile._

"Watching me? What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded once again.

"_Draco…I'm so tired, but so weak, please just fetch me some water is all I ask."_

"Don't speak to me creepy lady. I don't even know who the hell you are so don't go around telling me what to do!" He told her angrily.

"_Very well then," _she told Draco pleasantly, her calmness almost scaring him. Her green eyes dangerously flashed at him before she began to step closer to him.

Draco took a step back, now well afraid of what she was doing. She begun to pace around him, and soon her speed became faster and faster, until she was just a blur.

And before he knew it, right before his eyes, her body became a thousand of pretty hibiscus flowers, encircling him.

_Your vanity makes you inhumane_

_No respect, no compassion or empathy the same_

_So now, you become what really is inside_

_A beast, a monster, and here now you lie._

Draco remembered hearing those words before his whole world was overcome with darkness.

**Authors Note: How was it? Like it, Love it, Hate it? Please Review. All are appreciated as well as constructive criticism. Thanks for reading! **


	2. The Curse

**Authors Note: Hello my wonderful readers and reviewers! Please continue to do so, if you have time to spare. They mean a lot to me! Aright I hope you enjoy chapter 2! Oh, I've decided to add chapter names.**

**Chapter 2: The Curse**

Draco's eyelids slowly fluttered open from his sleep, the world still groggy around him. He awoke with this awful throbbing pain in his skull and his whole body ached. He had this terrible dream of meeting a horrendous old lady at the lake, something about fetching water for her. He had no idea what _that _was about and frankly, he didn't care. His vision becoming clearer, he sat up from where he previously was sleeping and looked around. He was still at the lake.

_What the hell? Did I fall asleep out here?_

He proceeded to run his hand through his normally silky smooth hair but all he felt was thick, rugged tufts. Tuft that felt like fur.

_No, no, no, no, no. That old lady wasn't real. That whole water fetching thing wasn't real. That chant thing wasn't real._

Rushing to the water bank, he looked down in the calm, blue water, half afraid of what he was about to see, half hoping he still looked like his handsome self. But all he saw was a fur covered head, thick, rough fur, running down his whole body, with the exception of part of his face, which by the looks of it, made him wish fur covered that too.

His perfect face was gone. A series of scars and open gashes covered a majority of his face. His nose, high cheekbones, perfect lips and defined jaw line were gone-and replaced with _ugly._ He could hardly believe it was him, or recognize anything from his previous self. The only thing he could recognize was his eyes. Grey as usual.

_My god! What the hell is going on? This isn't happening. Things like this don't happen to me._

_Draco. Calm down. You are fine. That old lady was just some old hag playing a joke on me. Just fix yourself and everything will be fine. Everything will work out. You are Draco Malfoy. Son of Lucius Malfoy, Son of-_

His thoughts were interrupted by the rising sun. He squinted at the sun, which was still rising. He had time. No one could see him like this. By the time everyone woke up he could be his normal self and put this whole thing behind him. Looking around him, he found his belongings, ripped apart, due to his growth in size he assumed. Rummaging through the shreds, he found nothing. Nothing was around him, except the torn fabric from his robe and his broom.

_The stupid old bitch turned me into this god forsaken monster, and then took my wand too._

Draco began to scream his lungs out. Taking one last glance in the water, he saw that he really was a hideous looking beast and that it wasn't a figment of his imagination. Thinking, with no wand and no idea what happened to him, he only thought of one thing he could do.

He was going to go to Dumbledore. And so he did. He grabbed his broom and flew away as fast as he possibly could and sprinted away to Dumbledore's office.

_Thank god I didn't run into anyone. _Draco didn't know how he would react, or how anyone one else you saw him would.

Standing awkwardly in front of the gargoyles Draco remembered that loony Dumbledore had a password.

"Is it Chocolate Frogs?" "Lemon Drops?" "Dumbledore is the best!" "Dumbledore is the greatest?" "I love Dumbledore!"

"Why me?" he screamed out loud, looking up at the ceiling, as if looking for a sign.

"Why hello there Draco," Dumbledore said pleasantly behind him.

"Professor Dumbledore" he turned around. "How'd you know it was me? What happened to me? Why am I like this?"

"I simply knew. And I have an idea on what has occurred to you. Maybe you should come in," Dumbledore said calmly. "Pygmy Puffs". The entrance to his office was opened and revealed and he motioned for Draco to enter then proceeded to follow him. Once inside Draco's questions came flooding out.

"What happened to me? Why am I like this? Who did this me?" Draco asked urgently.

"All in good time, all in good time." Dumbledore told him.

"What's that even suppose to _mean_?" Draco asked, amazed at how calm Dumbledore could be when something like Draco's appearance was a stake. The nerve of that old man!

"My god, can you _please _say something the people of normalcy can understand?" he furiously demanded.

Dumbledore stood up and closely examined Draco. Once satisfied, he simply said, "Esmeralda."

Draco now more confused than ever looked livid. "Who the hell is Esmeralda?" he practically shouted.

"There is a tale of an old god named Esmeralda. She was a descent of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. Esmeralda was beautiful, and men fell at her feet. When she finally found the man she believed to be her true love, she thought that nothing could or would tear them apart. So she tested him. She turned herself into an ugly lady and greeted her love, to see if he would treat her with the kindness he treated her beautiful self with. Instead of the kindness she expected, he was foul, harsh and looked at her with disgust and disdain. Esmeralda was appalled that she had fallen in love with such a shallow man. Since then she vowed she would rid the world of vanity."

"What? So she decided to exterminate all the people who cared about their looks? How does that solve anything? That's a majority of the world!" Draco retorted.

"Not _exterminate_. Esmeralda put a curse on you, one that would cause you to remain a beast until you-"

He was cut off by Draco's annoyed words. "Until I what exactly?" He scoffed. "I'm not even vain. I'll apologize to Luna okay?"

"Mr. Malfoy, it is not that simple. You see, the curse says you have one year to find someone that will love you for _you. _Not your appearance."

"Oh yeah, that will be a breeze. Especially looking like this." Draco told him sarcastically. "What do you mean love? So can I pay someone to tell me they love me?"

Dumbledore just shook his head.

"Real love, Draco, comes from within the heart." He paused, waiting for a retort from Draco but didn't hear anything.

"I suppose you want to know about your living arrangements. I've already owled your father and he's decided that it's best for you to spend your time with the curse away from other students."

Draco wasn't surprised at this news at all. His father would never want to associate with a son that looked the way he did. It would be a disgrace to the Malfoy name.

"You will be living in a small cabin in the forbidden forest. This was under request of your father. The forest is a place you can be able to contemplate your identity and who you are. Of course, you will still have an education here at Hogwarts. All the professors will be informed with your situation and will visit you to teach you."

Draco sighed, but it came out as more of a gruff. How can this happen to him? "Professor, are you _sure_ there is nothing you can do to rid me of this- curse?"

"No, I'm afraid there's not."

"But, you're the most powerful wizard in the world? How can you not?"

"There is absolutely nothing I can do about the situation you were unfortunately placed in." Dumbledore said sympathetically.

Draco wanted to believe him, in that nothing could be done, but for some reason, the twinkle in Dumbledore's eye's told him to think otherwise.

"Oh, and your wand" Dumbledore said, as he reached into a pocket of his robes. "Are you ready to apparate to your new home?"

"Ready as I'll ever be" he grudgingly said, as he took Dumbledore's arm.

**End Chapter.**

**Author's Note: So when I was describing Draco's beastly-ness I sort of made it vague so you could picture how he looked as a beast. I hope you liked it! Please review, they make me so happy to get feedback!**


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